The traditional pressure to keep women below men was almost entirely absent from the start of the Common Era as many Middle Eastern women were over rights than those of the West. It was not until long after the death of the great prophet Muhammad and the fall of the Abbasid Caliphate that polygamy became widespread and women took the veil. The role of religion in the oppression of women cannot be overstated, especially when it is so easily visible in a society without any secular support.